danimal
Jun 10, 2002, 8:58 AM
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Registered: Jun 6, 2002
Posts: 3
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. . .but it was worth the short trip from Washington, DC. Doesn´t compare to a weekend at Seneca rocks, but Maryland Heights definitely has height to offer where other DC-area local climbing do not. We broke "A" climb (or was it "B") into four pitches. Maybe it could have been two, but it was strung out (easy climb, but not worth the risk for me).
My only complaint about the area is that it is very dirty and difficult to get to. Trail-work, anyone?
The on-line guidebook didn't describe the routes well enough for me to find them, but then again I didn't see "the Sign" until we'd come down at the end of the day to go back to the car. Some beforehand knowledge of what "the Sign" was would have helped, so here it is:
It's not really a sign at all, or at least not the kind i was looking for. IT's HUGE, and painted on the wall. I suggest finding it from the ground--most easily from the bridge or the canal path--before attempting the approach. That was our first mistake (I was looking for a small wooden placard).
From there, the approach (as we found it) was little better than a scramble through bramble and choss, straight up from the train tracks very close to the entrance to the tunnel (between the tunnel and the white house).
Good luck to anyone venturing out there. Also, if there's anyone who had a good experience (and actually was able to FIND "Hard Up"), let me know please. It'd be worth checking this place out again.
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